strange laptop disk size restrictions, & laptop suggestions?

[Mark Phillips <mbp@geomtech.com>]

I'm in the market for a fairly high-end Linux laptop.  I've had a Dell
Inspiron 3000 (with Windows, not Linux) for several years and have
liked it a lot, so I was thinking about getting an Inspiron 7500 from
Dell, preloaded with Linux, so that I don't have to spend much time
setting it up, and because of my good experience with Dell in the
past.

The problem is that for reasons that no one at Dell can tell me, 
they won't sell a Linux laptop with a hard drive larger than 6GB.
The same laptops with Windows can have hard drives up to 20GB
or maybe 30GB.

Does anyone out there have any idea why they might have this
restriction?  Are the Linux drivers for larger laptop hard drives less
stable, for example?

A couple of related questions:

   1. If I got a Dell Inspiron 7500 preloaded with Windows and then
      tried to install Linux on it myself, can anyone tell me what
      kind of experience I'd be in for?  I've installed Linux on a lot
      of desktops and servers but never any laptops, so I'm OK with
      putzing with it a bit, but if it'll take me a week to get X up
      and running, for example, then I'd rather pay someone else to do
      it.

   2. Does anyone have any experience with support from some of the
      other Linux laptop companies, such as ASL or Tuxtops?  Are
      they dependable?  Can I be confident that they'll still be around
      to service the thing if it develops problems in a couple of years?

I'd appreciate hearing any thoughts about any of these things.  Thanks!

--Mark

Mark Phillips @ Geometry Technologies, Inc.
Suite 550, 413 Wacouta St., St. Paul, MN 55101
Phone: 651-223-2884  Fax: 651-292-0014
mbp@geomtech.com       http://www.geomtech.com